Hi! Joan:
I am glad that you are being surrounded by real helpers. With best
wishes,
Raj
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**************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joan E Snyder" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 8:09 AM
Subject: Re: it gets more unbelievable every day...
> i apologize to maxine and to the other folks who use this list in the
> thought-provoking and respectful way in which it was created, i would
> think. it was never my intention to diss any of you. what i was pointing
> out was the difference between the "ole days" when we had poetry and
> literature and enough great material with which we were able to write
> two beautiful books: "When Parkinson's Strikes Early" (Barbara
> Blake-Krebs & Linda Herman) and "Voices From the Parking Lot" (Dennis
> Greene and myself) to the list now which seems to have more than it's
> share of snake-oil salesmen.
> i thought that while i'm at it i would post an update on my life and
> what's been happening to me:
>
> i'm writing to tell you how even a dreadful experience can have a
> silver lining. as you know, about 4 weeks ago, i fell and shattered my
> right shoulder-i managed to break it in 4 places. the position of the
> breaks made casting it impossible and the doc was reluctant to try
> surgery because of my advanced parkinson's disease. so his only
> alternative was to allow the arm to hang limp at my side to allow
> gravity to take it's course and to pull the bones back into alaignment
> and to start growing back together. now, i am used to alot of pain and
> have a high tollerance for it but this injury brought me to my
> knees....and everytime i would bump or jostle the arm-the pain was
> excrutiating. (try to keep still w/o bumping your arm in a household w/ 2
teenagers, a husband, mother, a big old collie dog and an enormous cat!) the
doc tried to help me with pain management and prescribed x-strength viacadin
which didn't touch the pain
> so he prescribed oxycontin which is a very powerful class 3 narcotic.
> this drug was bad news. i was on it for a week and a half and it put me
> mentally in a very unhealthy place. also, it caused me to become
> extremely incontinant (for five days, i peed all over myself and
> everything around me; i wore depends and let me tell you-it is the
> greatest lesson in humility to have your husband change your diapers.)
> then because it is a narcotic, i was constipated so badly that i
> thought i would explode. suddenly on new years day-in a bfo (blinding
> flash of the obvious) it came to me that it was the drug causing these
> side effects; that i would not need depends for the rest of my life so i
> quit cold turkey. for about 12 hrs-i felt fine, pain in my arm but i had
> recovered complete control over my bladder again-thank heaven!
> then the withdrawal from the drug started-2days and a night of the
> chills, fevers, shakes, trembleing, nausia, diahria, blinding
> headaches-boy, now i know what it is like to jones and it is not a
> pleasnt thing. i cried for 3 days straight.
>
> anyway, during this time, my doc, worried about me, prescribed a home
> health care evaluation for me. in a matter of hours a nurse was here and
> we became the best of friends-she stayed all afternoon. by the time she
> left, i had two therapist scheduled to come three times a week each. one
> is occupational and one is physicial. i call these two gems my s&m
> queens as i think they enjoy their work a bit too much!! the pt was not
> at all happy with my inability to walk so she called in her teacher from
> bradley u to come take a look. after a spin around the house, he said
> that my ankles were so weak that they turn and twist and go out from
> under me causing my many falls. add to this my precarious balance and
> you have an Rx for disaster. he tried me on a pair of lace=up ankle
> braces that helped right away. i am anxiously awaiting delivery of my
> own braces today or tomorrow. also, the nurse set up a an appointment to
> have a gal come from the state of illinois dept. of human & rehab
> services. this woman was a jewel and on the very day that she
> interviewed me, she approved me for a program thru which i can hire a
> personal assistant for 4 hrs a day, 5 days a week and the state will pay
> her $7 an hour to help me with whatever i need: housecleaning, laundry,
> shopping, cooking, errands, pd stuff. i cannot begin to tell you the
> enormous load of stress this has taken from my shoulders...and how it
> has improved my outlook and the outlook of the rest of my family. i am
> so very grateful and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful system of
> support both here at home and also on the internet.
>
> thank you all for being here. a special hug to Daddy Don McKinley (my
personal hero), to bunny my dear and to you Jo Anne!!
>
>
> --
> Joan E. Blessington Snyder 50/11
> http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm
> <[log in to unmask]>
> "Hang tough...........no way through it but to do it."
> Chris-in-the-Morning (Northern Exposure)
>
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